Her Voice
by HoneyBee HoneySuckle
Summary: Hater falls in love with a lady (who looks suspiciously like a certain nomad), and also forgets how doors work. (prompt-fill, cross-posting from tumblr)
1. Falling Slowly

"Hater's Law Number 1074: Every third Monday of the month will be known as _Festivale de Hater_! Hater's Law Number 1075: The day will be a testament to the greatness of…"

Hater rolled his eyes, staring out into space. Usually, he enjoyed the part of conquering planets where the former leader was forced to listen to the new rules, but today, he was just bored.

The streets in front of him were bustling with people, the air buzzing with nervous energy. He grimaced at the crowd that was starting to form, and to his delight they dispersed awkwardly, slowly clearing out.

His glee quickly disappeared when he caught a flash of orange fur and a floppy green hat.

"Wander…" He growled, standing up.

"Sir? Sir, we still have," Peepers paused, looking down, "536 laws to go over!"

Hater rolled his eyes, waving his commander off. "Just keep doing that without me, I have something to take care of!"

"But sir-!"

Hater turned to glare at him, and Peepers shut up immediately, turning back to the list. "H-Hater's Law Number 1081…"

The overlord smirked, then stormed over to the entrance, slowing his steps as he got closer to the orange being.

Wander would never know what hit him…

"Alright, so that's the gist of it." A purple native in a lab coat said as she handed something- a necklace?- to the other person, who Hater now saw was wearing a yellow sundress.

Weird. Since when was Wander into cross-dressing?

The orange being nodded, removing the green hat and letting long blonde hair fall out as they put the necklace on. "I'm not entirely sure if this'll- Oh! Oh, my goodness, I sound just like my mom!"

Hater froze in place, his eyes widening when he heard the creature's…

When he heard her voice.

It was almost musical, soft and sweet with a slight country accent.

He'd never heard something so… so… so _beautiful_.

The other person looked up, eyes widening when she saw Lord Hater looming over them. "L-Lord Hater, sir!"

The woman whipped her head around to look at him, her big blue eyes wide in shock.

She had a face to match her voice.

Hater realized that he was staring, flushing as he looked away and cleared his throat. "A-Ah, um, sorry… I, er, I thought that you were someone else."

The woman smiled nervously at him, brushing some of her blond hair out of her eyes. "Oh, um, that's fine…" She put her hat, which was eerily identical to a certain nomad's, back on, sticking her hand out. "I'm Hope, by the way."

Hater hesitated for a moment before shaking her hand. "Tha- Erm, I mean, Lord Hater. B-But, uh, you already knew that, because, um, y-your friend said it just a minute ago…"

'Hope' smiled weakly at him. "Uh… Can I have my arm back?"

"Huh?" He looked down and saw that he was still shaking her hand. He blushed again, relinquishing his grip and folding his arms, smiling anxiously. "Uh, sorry, that was…" He gestured back to the building. "I'm just gonna go now…" He managed, turning and starting to head back to Peepers, before walking straight into the glass doors. He stood there for a moment, immobilized by humiliation before taking a step back, grinning at 'Hope' sheepishly as he fumbled for the door handle, grabbing it and hurrying inside.

"Uh… so anyway, thanks so much for helping out with this, Wander."

The nomad grinned at her. "It's no problem, Andy! You know me, always happy to help!"

"I do have one question, though. Why did you tell Lord Hater that your name was Hope?"

"Oh, well, me and Hatey have a bit of a history. It's probably better if he doesn't know I'm here. And, well, I sound a lot like my mom right now; her name's Hope, so why not?"

Andy smiled at him. "Well, let's just hope that he doesn't figure it out."

On the other side of the glass, Hater was panicking.

He'd never felt _anything_ like this before. His face was flushed completely green, and if he'd had a heart he was sure it would have been beating uncontrollably.

"Lord Hater, sir!"

The overlord jumped. "What is it, Peepers?"

The monocular alien saluted him. "I've finished debriefing the former ruler on the new rules, sir! We're ready to depart!"

Hater stared at him for a moment, then looked out the door, watching as the woman disappeared into the crowd. "You know what, Peepers? New order: We are going to remain on this planet for a few more days."

Peepers blinked. "Sir? We've already conquered this planet, haven't we?"

The overlord glared at him, narrowing his eyes. "Are you questioning my orders?"

"O-Of course not, sir!" Peepers cried, holding his hands out in front of him. "I just… why?"

"BECAUSE I SAID SO! Now go tell the men that we're staying on planet for a few more days!"

Peepers swallowed hard, saluting as he ran off.

Hater looked out the door. 'Hope' was long gone by now, and yet…

It was irrational, stupid, possibly even insane.

But for some reason, he just _had_ to see her again.


	2. Folding Chair

Wander hummed to himself softly as he straightened out the blonde wig on his head.

"You're seriously still doing this? Hater's in charge of this planet, you know." Sylvia asked absently as she flipped through a magazine.

"Yes, I am." The orange alien answered as he slipped on a white dress, covering it with a powder blue cardigan. "I promised Andy I'd help her with her invention, and she wants to test it for at least a week before she introduces it at that convention. So Hater or no Hater, I'm gonna keep my promise!" After putting on his hat and a pair of flats, Wander slipped on the necklace. "So, how do I look?"

His friend glanced up at him briefly. "Like your mom if she was a brighter shade of orange," Sylvia answered as she turned back to her magazine.

Wander giggled. "Oh? Would Mother mix us up?"

"I think Ana can differentiate between her wife and her son, Wander." The Zbornak replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Wander just smiled. "Well, I'm off! Don't wait up!"

"Sir, we have a message coming from-!" Peepers was barely in the door before he had to duck, narrowly avoiding being hit by a green bolt of energy.

"I TOLD YOU NEVER TO COME IN HERE WITHOUT KNOCKING!" Hater bellowed, glaring at his subordinate with the fury of a thousand suns.

"S-Sorry, sir! Won't happen again, sir-!" Peepers blinked. "What are you doing?"

Hater flushed, hiding his guitar behind his back as unobtrusively as possible. "N-Nothing."

"Why are you wearing casual clothes?"

"B-Because I felt like it!"

"... This doesn't have anything to do with that girl yesterday, does it?"

Hater blinked. "H-How did you-?!"

"Sir, the doors were glass. I saw her too." Peepers folded his arms. "Is she the reason that we're still on this planet?"

"I... uh..." Hater blinked, then glared at his commander. "Waaait, why am _I _explaining myself to _you?" _He shot off another bolt. "GET OUT!"

With a yelp, the monocular alien ran out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

The skeletal conqueror sighed, pulling his guitar out from behind him, strumming the strings softly.

"I should tell you, I should tell you, I should tell you, I should tell you that I... I..." Hater grimaced, putting the guitar down and covering his face with a gloved hand. "Ugh..."

The overlord stood, pulling the hood of his jacket over his skull.

"I need some air."

"Hey, Toots! Nice legs!"

Wander faked a shaky smile, pulling the brim of his hat over his face.

The cat calls were getting more and more... inappropriate, making him more and more uncomfortable.

What would Sylvia do in this situation?

_Punch the guy in the face and call 'em a scuzzmonkey!_

Okay, so Sylvia wasn't the best role model in this situation. Mom?

_Kick 'em in the nads!_

Not Mom. Mother?

_The man obviously has issues with respect. I would suggest asking him about his relationship with his-_

Wander wasn't a psychiatrist. Corsair?

_Well-_

Nope, just... not going there.

Meander?

_Just keep walking._

Good.

So that's what Wander did.

It... turned out not to be the best idea, as Wander soon found his path blocked by a giant of a man.

"U-Um..." Wander stuttered, not looking up. "C-Can I help y-you?"

The man grinned, reaching down and tilting Wander's chin up so that he was forced to look the man in the eyes.

"Well, I was just thinking that I'd love to take a pretty girl out to lunch, and don't cha know it, there you were!"

Wander giggled anxiously. "Y... Ya don't say..." He murmured, trying to back away as unobtrusively as possible.

"I do say. So, what do _you _say? There's a sweet little bistro just down the street."

The nomad swallowed nervously. "L-Listen, I'm sure that you're a great guy, but... I have a boyfriend." He lied, looking at the ground.

"Sure you do. What kind of guy would let a girl as pretty as you out of his sight?"

Punching this guy in this face was starting to sound more and more appealing. "The kind that considers his girlfriend to be a _person _instead of _property!" _Wander replied indignantly, noting that he was _really _starting to sound like his mom at this point.

The guy snorted rolling his eyes. "Right. Listen, babe, unless your man comes walking down the street in the next minute, I don't see any reason that you should be saying no to me."

Wander glared at him, then glanced behind the guy, his eyes widening as an idea came to him.

_I sure hope he doesn't hate me for this._

"Even though the fact that I'm saying 'no' should be enough for you, it doesn't really matter, because my boyfriend happens to be coming this way." Wander said with a smirk, running around him and waving. "Hater, honey! Over here!"

The skeleton looked over at her, confused (and more than a little flustered). "Wha...?"

The nomad ran over to him, pulling his face down and pecking him near his mouth.

"He won't leave me alone; pretend you're my boyfriend for a minute, kay?" Wander whispered to him quickly.

Despite his extremely flustered state, the overlord managed to understand. "O-Oh, um, sure," he whispered back. He straightened, glaring at his fake girlfriend's harasser. "Hey! Are you deaf, pal?! She told you she's not interested!"

The other guy held up his hands, the realization of just how bad his situation currently was seeming to just now be dawning on him. "H-Hey, man, I didn't think that she was telling the truth about having a guy!"

"That doesn't make your harassment any less _disgusting!" _Hater growled lowly, taking a step towards the other man. "No means no, regardless of any factor!"

The man gulped, and with a half-squeaked "Sorry!" he ran off.

Wander sighed, visibly relaxing. "Thanks, Hater. Sorry I had to drag you into that."

"O-Oh, it's fine, don't worry about it..." He replied, grinning weakly. Any feeling of power or anger that Hater had had drained out of him, replaced by a nervous energy and his brain reminding him that 'Hope' was very, very pretty.

Wander smiled kindly at him, trying to suppress the feeling of guilt at deceiving Hater in his gut. "No, really, thanks- oof!" The tiny nomad was nearly knocked off of his feet when someone backed into him.

"Hey!" Hater shouted. "Watch where you're going, buddy!"

The worker who had accidently bumped Wander turned to the overlord, paling and dropping the box he was carrying to salute. "L-Lord Hater, s-sir! I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going!"

The overlord's gaze remained stony. "It's fine, just don't let it happen again."

"Y-Yes, sir!"

"What's all this, anyway?" Wander asked, peering around the man. "There's a lot of you guys, actually."

The worker sighed. "Every year, this town has a festival to our patron goddess, Vesta, to celebrate the harvest. But since our government got overthrown, we aren't allowed to have it."

Wander's face fell. "Oh, that's too bad... I would've really liked to have seen that, it sound pretty neat!"

Hater suddenly had an idea. "W-Well, I don't see why we can't still do that!"

Wander's face lit up, and he whirled around to face Hater. "Really?! You'd let them throw the festival?!"

Hater cleared his throat nervously. "I... If it really means that much to y- _them. _B-But, um, I'll only let it happen on one condition."

Wander frowned. "What?"

The overlord flushed, looking away. "Y... You have to agree to go with me."

The nomad stared at him for a minute, then grinned hugely. "Okay!"

"W-Wait, seriously?!" Hater asked incredulously, staring at 'her' with wide eyes.

"Yeah! I mean, you did help me out earlier, and besides, the festival sounds like a lot of fun!" The nomad turned, waving as 'she' ran down the street. "I'll meet you at the park across the street! Tomorrow at five?"

"That... tomorrow at five is great!" Hater called back, still in disbelief.

"Great! See you then!" Wander called as he finally disappeared from sight. He stopped after a few minutes, staring ahead.

"Oh, no."

Meanwhile, Hater stared after 'her', not believing his luck.

One of the workers cleared his throat. "So, uh, is she your girlfriend?"

Hater glared at him. "D-D... Don't you morons have a festival to set up?!"


	3. Can't Help Falling in Love with You

**A/N: Let it be known that I am bad at updating things in a timely manner.**

"Okay, just... just keep cool, Wander." The nomad muttered as he braided the wig. "It's just one date. It's... it's not even really a date! You're just doing a favor for the people on this planet! Even... even though they don't really realize it's a favor... and you explicitly called it a date... to Hater's face, no less..."

Wander groaned, covering his face with his hands. "Oh, gob, it's _totally_ a date. What have I done?"

He sighed, turning around and walking over to his hat. "Well, I'll just have to make sure that Hater has a horrible time!" He said as he pulled a red dress out of his hat. "That way, he won't want to go out with me- er, with Hope- again!"

Wander frowned. "Oh, but goodness, that's just so mean!" He moaned as he pulled on the dress and pulled a pair of black Mary-Janes out of his hat. "I don't think that even Hater deserves to have his heart broken like that!"

Wander sighed, putting on the shoes and walking over to the wig. "Okay, then maybe I shouldn't show up at all!" He frowned again as he finished braiding the wig. "Oh, no, that's even worse! And I can't even begin to imagine how he'd react to being stood up!"

He sighed once more as he put the wig on, adjusting it. "I guess... I guess I'll just have to go along with it, just for now. I'll just have to leave the date without agreeing to anything or giving Hater any way to contact me." He mumbled to himself as he put the necklace on. Wander sighed, looking at himself in the mirror.

"Well, here goes nothing."

* * *

She was late.

Or maybe Hater was just early.

Was he early? Was that a bad thing? Should he have waited longer before leaving the ship?

Was she even coming?

Hater groaned quietly as he pulled at his tie, gripping the bouquet tightly. Gob, he was nervous. Not only was this his first date with Hope, it was his first date in...

Well, it was his first date.

Ever.

And right now, he was so nervous that he thought he might pass out.

"Hater!"

The conqueror nearly jumped a foot in the air, whipping his head around to look at 'Hope'.

"U-Uh..."

'She' smiled at him. "Hi. Wow, you look nice!"

"I-I, um, uh, that is, uh..." He swallowed hard, his face burning. "Um, th-thank... thank you. You, um, you look... you look... wow." Hater was very glad he didn't actually have a heart, because if he did, it would have been hammering so loudly that everyone in a thirty-mile radius would have gone deaf.

'Hope' giggled, and the conqueror thought he might die right there and then. "Aw, thanks! You're sweet." 'She' glanced at the flowers in his hand. "Oh, are those... are those for me?"

Hater looked at the bouquet, then cleared his throat. "Um, well, um..." He swallowed, handing them to 'her'. "Well, yes."

'Hope' blushed, taking the bouquet from him and smelling it. "Oh, well, thank you. Thank very mu... mu... ah... ah-CHOO!"

"Uh... are you okay?"

'She' waved at him, blinking hard. "M'fine. Thank you, Hater- ah-CHOO!"

'Hope' sneezed several times, and Hater sighed. "You're allergic to pollen, aren't you?"

"Only... only-" 'She' sneezed again. "Only certain kinds." She admitted, handing him the bouquet. "S... Sorry."

Hater sighed, tossing the bouquet into a trash can nearby. "It's fine, don't worry about it-"

'Hope' sneezed again, interrupting Hater. "Sorry." 'She' cleared her throat. "U-Um... so, where do you want to go first?"

"A-Ah, well, I thought we might get some dinner before we look around..."

* * *

"... And I didn't have _any _idea who Tuesday was talking about, because I'd honestly thought that her name was _Nanny_!"

Wander laughed. "So you had no clue that her name was Annette, even after she took care of you for almost eighteen years?"

Hater grinned sheepishly. "Well, in my defense, Mother and the other staff members all called her 'Annie' when I was a kid!"

He laughed again, covering his mouth with his hand as the waiter took his empty plate away.

"So, what about you? Got any stories about your family?"

Wander's smile slowly dropped. "... Yes, but... they aren't exactly fun stories. At least, most of them aren't."

Hater frowned. "O-Oh, um... sorry."

"No, it's... it's fine, you didn't know." Wander replied quietly, looking down. "My... my biological mom didn't like her husband. I... I'm fairly sure that me and my twin- her name's Meander- aren't his, and I think he knew it." He shifted awkwardly. "They died about twenty years ago... I don't really like talking about what happened to them. My sisters and I- My older sister is named Corsair- got adopted by our moms, and I left home when I was about eighteen." He took a deep breath. "And that's about it." He smiled weakly at Hater. "Not exactly as exciting as being a King, huh?"

Hater cleared his throats. "It... it wasn't all great."

"What do you mean?"

"When I was younger, I... I didn't really have a ton of control over, y'know," He held up his hand, letting off a spark. "The whole electricity powers thing. My sister- though, at the time, she was my brother-" He paused, eyeing Wander warily, as if he was waiting for a negative reaction. The nomad just smiled, nodding as if to say, 'Go on'. "Well, she liked the light shows I could make, and one time, when I was eight and she was four..." Hater swallowed. "It... It was an accident, but I... I hurt her pretty badly. So, I started wearing the gloves. I... I lied to my parents and Tuesday, told them that I'd lost my powers." He snorted. "I'm still not sure _why _they believed me, but they did, and for about ten years everything was okay, but... on the night of my coronation, Tuesday- who was a girl at this point-, she..." He sighed. "We had a fight. She... She wanted to get married to this guy, who, by the way, she had _literally _just met, and... she pulled the gloves off, and..." He took a deep breath. "I lost control. No one got hurt, but... I was scared, so I ran away." He snorted. "I actually managed to restore Castle Lumiere- the castle my grandpa lived in when he was king- and so I stayed there, thinking that I could keep people safe if I wasn't around."

"... What happened after that?"

"Well, eventually I had to go back. Apparently I accidently set off some sort of apocalyptic event, and the planet nearly was destroyed by some ancient beast my ancestors had sealed off. I was able to fix it, but..." He gestured to himself. "I ended up like this."

Wander was silent for a moment, then gestured for the waiter to come over, whispering something in his ear.

"What are you up to?" Hater asked warily.

Wander smiled at him. "You'll see."

About a minute later, the waiter returned, a bottle of champagne in his hand.

"Uh, we didn't order-"

"I did." Wander interrupted gently, smiling at the waiter as he opened the bottle and filled two glasses.

"... Why?"

Wander smiled, holding up his glass. "I think that we should have a toast."

"To what?"

"To miserable childhoods and hopefully better adulthoods."

Hater stared at him for a moment, then smiled, holding up his own glass and softly tapping it against Wander's.

"Let's hope so."

* * *

"I still can't believe you knew that guy was scamming everyone!"

Wander grinned up at Hater as they walked along the path near the lake. "Hey, when you travel as often as I have, you can recognize the difference between an Arnomian milkfish and a Terranian goldguppy."

Hater chuckled, turning to face 'her'. "... I... I had a great time tonight, Hope."

Wander smiled up at him. "I... I did too." To his surprise, that was the truth.

Hater blushed a bit, rubbing the back of his skull awkwardly. "W-Well, um..." He stuck out his hand. "Thanks."

Wander stared at his hand for a moment, then swallowed nervously. "Could... Could you crouch down for a sec?"

Hater frowned, staring at 'Hope'. "Why?"

"Please? For me?"

The conqueror sighed, but did as 'she' asked. Wander took a deep breath, hesitating for only a second before taking a step forward, leaning over and pecking Hater on the cheekbone.

The skeleton's eyes opened wide as his date took a step back, flushing awkwardly and twirling a strand of blond hair as 'she' stared at 'her' feet.

"U-Um..."

"... Thank you." Wander said, glancing up at the skeleton briefly.

Hater stared, then nodded, standing up shakily. "Er... n... no problem." He stammered. "G... Goodnight, Hope."

"... Goodnight, Hater."

He nodded at 'her' again, then turned around, starting to walk away.

"... Hater!" Wander called suddenly.

The conqueror paused, turning back to face 'her'.

"I heard that there's supposed to be some sort of dance tomorrow!" Wander called. He hesitated for a second. "Would... Would you like to come with me?"

Hater's eyes widened, and it was a moment before he was able to respond. "I... I'd love to go! W-With you, I mean!"

Wander grinned. "It's a date, then! I'll meet you here at eight, okay?"

The skeleton nodded. "Okay!" He paused. "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!"

Wander smiled as his date walked out of sight, turning and walking back towards the festival.

"Wise men say, 'only fools rush in'..." A street performer sang as Wander walked past. The nomad's smile slowly dropped, replaced by a horrified look of realization.

"Oh, no."

"But I can't help falling in love with you..."

"No, no, no." He whispered.

"Shall I stay? Would it be a sin?"

Wander ran a hand through the wig, walking away quickly.

"If I can't help falling in love with you..."

This wasn't good.

In fact, it was awful.

Wander could try to deny it, but he knew in his heart of hearts the awful, terrible truth:

He was falling in love with Hater.


End file.
